Paint is one of the most commonly known contributors of VOC’s in the home. For years paint brands have been looking into reducing the number of VOC’s in their products and have used this in their marketing. Whilst reducing VOC’s in paint can be good, the best thing for our health is to eliminate them.
So firstly, what are VOC’s? Well, volatile organic compounds, are chemicals used within paint to enable the liquid to solidify or dry and during the drying or curing process these chemicals are released.
Some of the short term effects from VOC exposure are:
- irritation of the eyes, nose, or throat
- headache
- feeling dizzy or light-headed
- nausea
- trouble breathing
And long term effects are damage to the:
- nervous system
- liver
- kidneys
- some types of cancer
To reduce the exporsure to voc’s my top tips are:
Make sure you buy a No VOC paint – there are a few brands that make a low voc paint but you are much better off buying a NO VOC paint.
Make sure when you are painting the room you have all the windows open to ventilate the space – if you can its best to leave the room to ventilate for a few days.
Whilst painting make sure you take frequent breaks
Make sure you close the lids of paint properly when you store them.
So with that in mind below are three of the best paint brands that I have found that contain No VOC’s.
‘Little Knights is 100% VOC-free, allergen-free and odour-free. It releases NO toxic emissions into the air, and is free from carcinogens, petrochemicals and hazardous fumes of any kind. Little Knights paint actively helps to improve the quality of the air in your home. It contains a unique monomer that bonds with formaldehyde molecules on contact and transforms them into harmless vapour.‘
- NO Solvents – 100% VOC-FREE – INDEPENDENTLY CERTIFIED
- NO heavy metal – all are totally VEGAN and As NATURAL as NATURAL can be.
- NO vinyl chloride, acrylic softeners, plasticisers or fomaldehyde.
- NO Phthalates, APEOs, Bisphenols, Glycols. FREE of All PLASTICS. All packaging is 100% Recycled or Recyclable
- NO pesticides, herbicides or toxins. Winner of Four Major ECO Awards.
‘All our waterbased paints carry the industry’s lowest eco-rating, with VOC content now virtually zero. This means you don’t need to worry about solvent contributions to the atmosphere or any respiratory issues, or the smell; they are virtually odourless. Oil based paints are traditionally favoured because of their renowned longevity and superb finish. Little Greene oil based paints have been reformulated using sustainable vegetable oils, without compromising on their unrivalled quality.’